City’s New Grid Garbage System Effective Monday

CHICAGO (CBS)– The City of Chicago is expanding its new, more efficient garbage collection system. Starting Monday, another 115-thousand households will be added to the so-called grid system for garbage pickup on the northwest, west, and near southwest sides.

According to a press release issued by the City of Chicago, beginning Monday November 12, 2012, the city will implement the fourth phase of the grid garbage collection system in targeted areas of the city. By using a grid garbage collection system, the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation says it will increase service efficiency and crew productivity.

“My priority is to ensure we are using our resources as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “By implementing the grid garbage system, we can reduce operational costs without impacting the quality of service, and the taxpayers will benefit.”

Phase 1 of the changeover began in June when seven North Side wards were the first to transition to trash pickup on a grid-based system, a departure from the city’s time-honored but inefficient ward-by-ward collection.

The mayor expects to save $20 million this year by freeing garbage crews from matching their routes to the often twisting borders of the wards, but some aldermen have resisted the change because it curtails their ability to deal with specific garbage problems in their wards.